Daily Links May 30

Yes indeed, crises call for big and immediate responses, but if I do bang on about geo-engineering, it’s because it may be big and immediate(ish), it has consequences that could make it as bad as the crisis is is supposed to resolve. “Outlandish and unsettling … redolent of science fiction” says one group of scientists. Geo-engineers blithely imagine “purpose-built high altitude tankers making 60,000 flights annually releasing sulphates into the stratosphere”. Now how does that strike you?

New research examined the impact that bottom-up, community-level initiatives have in addressing environmental justice issues. They found that the best way to address a community’s environmental injustices is to meet them where they are, integrating into the community and building trust over a long-term partnership.

The publication identifies US banks collectively as the biggest source of funding for fossil fuel expansion since the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted, accounting for 37% of all global fossil fuel financing.

Human intervention with the climate system has long been viewed as an ill-advised and risky step to slow global warming. But with carbon emissions soaring, initiatives to study and develop geoengineering technologies are gaining traction as a potential last resort.

Locals at the heart of a devastating fish kill say politicians lack the vision or intent to overcome water management deficiencies, as the ABC visits towns from Goolwa to Menindee to find out who, if anyone, is in control of the Murray-Darling Basin.

As occupants of an energy superpower — with abundant supplies of coal, gas and uranium, and immense potential in hydro, solar and wind — Australian consumers and producers should be able to access cheap and reliable power.

Councils in Melbourne’s south-east fear that plans for a new tram line linking Caulfield train station and Monash University in Clayton have been put on the back burner, with the project receiving no money in the state budget.

The Victorian Environment Minister has been asked to intervene over a Parks Victoria decision that is likely to sink a long-running business, taking a volunteer “riding for the disabled” group with it.

Bloodcurdling screams can be heard coming from a Bayside golf course and animals are “squealing for their lives” as foxes wreak havoc, frustrated neighbours say. But authorities deny there is a problem.

Location matters for species struggling to survive under a changing climate. A new study led by Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, has found we need to provide more safe havens for wildlife and plant species to survive under climate change in New South Wales’ west.

NSW is in a prime position to capitalise on this growing demand for traditional and new energy, CEO of the National Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee writes. There’s a strong future for our mining sector. Those politicians who pursue this are most likely to receive support from mining communities in the future.

A 64-year-old Australian man goes into cardiac arrest while climbing Uluru as tourists overwhelm local accommodation in a bid to tick a dangerous item off their bucket list before climbing the rock is banned in October.

A few days ago, we remarked on the irony of Christine Forster spending weeks campaigning for her brother Tony Abbott’s re-election after her boss at Woodside, Peter Coleman, called for an end to the climate wars. But maybe we spoke too soon.

A new device for collecting and purifying water, developed at The University of Texas at Austin, was inspired by a rose and, while more engineered than enchanted, is a dramatic improvement on current methods. Each flower-like structure costs less than 2 cents and can produce more than half a gallon of water per hour per square meter.

A new study based on levels before, during and after the Beijing Olympics reveals how air pollution affects the human body at the level of metabolites. Researchers found that 69 metabolites changed significantly when air pollution changed.

New research examined the impact that bottom-up, community-level initiatives have in addressing environmental justice issues. They found that the best way to address a community’s environmental injustices is to meet them where they are, integrating into the community and building trust over a long-term partnership.

Greek and Dutch divers have removed two tonnes of discarded plastic fishing nets from the seabed in northern Greece, where they posed a risk to local marine life, including a rare colony of Mediterranean seahorse.

The mutual dependencies of many plant species and their pollinators mean that the negative effects of climate change are exacerbated. The total number of species threatened with extinction is therefore considerably higher than predicted in previous models, researchers show.